Gustavo A. Flores-Macías

Overview

I am Associate Vice Provost for International Affairs and Professor of Government and Public Policy. My research and teaching interests include a variety of topics related to political and economic development. Currently, my research focuses on three main areas: 1) the politics of economic reform, 2) taxation and state capacity, and 3) punitive populism and the militarization of law enforcement. My latest book, Contemporary State Building: Elite Taxation and Public Safety in Latin America (Cambridge University Press 2022), provides insight into how to strengthen the state from a fiscal and public safety perspective drawing on experiences with elite taxation in the region. I am also the author of After Neoliberalism? The Left and Economic Reforms in Latin America (Oxford University Press 2012), which studies the economic policies of left-of-center governments in Latin America, focusing on the role that party systems play in facilitating or hindering economic transformations. The book won the Latin American Studies Association Tomassini Award in 2014. I am also the editor of The Political Economy of Taxation in Latin America (Cambridge University Press 2019), which provides a comprehensive, region-wide assessment of political challenges to taxation, including public opinion, institutions, natural resources, interest groups, ideology, and state capacity.

You can find more about my research, replication data, and myself by visiting my website: http://flores-macias.government.cornell.edu/index.html

Research Focus

• the politics of economic reform
• taxation and state capacity
• punitive populism and the militarization of law enforcement

Publications

Books

• Contemporary State Building: Elite Taxation and Public Safety in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2022)

• The Political Economy of Taxation in Latin America (Edited Volume, Cambridge University Press, 2019)
• After Neoliberalism? The Left and Economic Reforms in Latin America (New York: Oxford University Press 2012)

Articles

• “Militarization and Perceptions of Law Enforcement in the Developing World: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment in Mexico,” British Journal of Political Science 52, 3 (July 2022) (with Jessica Zarkin).

• “Building the Modern State in Developing Countries: Perceptions of Public Safety and (Un)Willingness to Pay Taxes in Mexico,” Politics & Society 48, 3 (September 2020) (with Mariano Sánchez-Talanquer).

• “The Militarization of Law Enforcement: Evidence from Latin America,” Perspectives on Politics 19, 2 (June 2021) (with Jessica Zarkin)
• “The Consequences of Militarizing Anti-Drug Efforts for State Capacity in Latin America: Evidence from Mexico,” Comparative Politics 51, 1 (October 2018).
• “Building Support for Taxation in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Mexico,” World Development 105, 5 (May 2018).
• “Borrowing Support for War: The Effect of War Finance on Public Attitudes toward Conflict,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 61, 5 (May 2017) (with Sarah Kreps)
• “Latin America's New Turbulence: Mexico's Stalled Reforms," Journal of Democracy 27, 2 (April 2016)
• “Financing Security through Elite Taxation: The Case of Colombia’s Democratic Security Taxes,” Studies in Comparative International Development 49,4 (December 2014)
• “Political Parties at War: A Study of American War Finance 1789-2010,” American Political Science Review 107, 4 (November 2013) (with Sarah Kreps)
• “The Foreign Policy Consequences of China’s Economic Rise: A Study of China’s Commercial Relations with Africa and Latin America, 1992-2006,” Journal of Politics 75:2 (April 2013) (with Sarah Kreps)
• “Mexico’s 2012 Presidential Election,” Journal of Democracy  (January 2013)
• “Making Migrant-Government Partnerships Work: Insights from the Logic of Collective Action,” Political Science Quarterly 127, 3 (Fall 2012)
• “Statist vs. Pro-Market: Explaining Leftist Governments’ Economic Policies in Latin America,” Comparative Politics 42, 4 (July 2010)
• “NAFTA’s Migration Record: Unfulfilled Expectations?” Peace Review 20, 4 (Winter, 2008-2009)

In the news

• Should US send troops to fight Mexican drug cartels? It's not a good idea.
• U.S. has few options to counter rollback of elections protections in Mexico
• Student Spotlight: Angie Torres-Beltran
• How security crises can spur state-building in Latin America
• What’s next for Brazil: Cornell experts on economics, politics post-election
• In blow to U.S. diplomacy, Mexican president skips key regional summit
• Story circles foster intercultural conversations, belonging
• Migration treaty violations, trade central to U.S.-Mexico-Canada summit
• Biden immigration bill brings promise and peril
• Arrest of general in U.S. boosts AMLO’s fight against corruption
• Grants fund community-engaged learning curricula
• AMLO’s White House visit shows Mexico’s dependence on U.S.
• Alum establishes scholarship for Black students
• A storm will hit Latin American democracies
• COVID-19 impact: Gustavo Flores-Macías on economic, political consequences
• Ambassadors to address border policy in Lund Debate Oct. 21
• Book examines political barriers to taxation in Latin America
• Trump’s hardball tactics could implode Mexico’s immigration system
• Whose work is it? The military or the police?
• Undergrads to present psychology research at May 9 conference
• What should the U.S. expect from Mexico's new president?
• Should the U.S. worry about meddling in Mexico’s July presidential race?
• Four unintended (and dangerous) consequences of Trump's plan to kill NAFTA
• Doctoral students present work at Stockholm conference